UPDATED: More FOX Illegal Immigration Lies

UPDATE: The Pink Flamingo knows exactly where Larry Link was murdered. Back in October I pulled into Steins to check it out, but felt so spooked by the place, I did not even get out to take photographs. I can tell you something of the lay of the land.

The ghost town, which is terribly historic, is about the length of two city blocks. It borders directly on 1-10. It is maybe 50-100 feet wide. The entire are is surrounded by a security chain fence, that would prove to be a bit difficult, keeping honest people out.

When one drives into the parking lot, on the location where Mr. Link was found, dead, near his truck, is surrounded by the chain fence on one side. The rest of the parking lot and road is one of those areas where you have an excellent view of the land. It would have almost have been impossible for Mr. Link not to have seen who killed him.

It would have been very difficult for the murderer to have hidden from his victim.

If Mr. Link was out of his truck, a bit of a distance from it, then he did not feel threatened. Anyone who lives in that area knows the risks, and dealing with illegals is only part of the problem. I suspect Mr. Link not only knew who his killer was, but felt no threat from him/her.

ORIGINAL POST: FOX News and the far right anti-immigration bigots are using the tragic murder of Larry Link, in Steins, NM as a crime committed by an illegal. According to FOX, Steins is right on the border. FOX is turning this into an anti-immigration piece, when there is NO suspect. Steins is NOT on the border. It isn’t even close to the border.

Fox interviewed Jim Chilton, who tried to link the murder to terrorists coming over the border. They are comparing this to the murder of Bob Krantz last year. Chilton is a long time rancher in the area, and a FOX regular. He is an anti-immigration activist.

It is more a Rorschach Test for the anti-immigration haters.

According to NM Watchdog:

“…New Mexico Department of Public Safety officials are handling the investigation and are being extremely tight-lipped about details surrounding the death.

There have been rumors that an illegal immigrant may be involved but a DPS spokesman said there is no suspect in custody. When asked about the stories circulating on the Internet about a possible illegal immigrant being responsible for the death, the spokesman said, “That’s the buzzword … but how can that be when you don’t have a suspect?”

NMDPS released only spare bits of information about the death — confirming that Link was the victim, reporting his age and saying that the body was found at 6:15 a.m. at #6 Summit Road in Steins….”

What is just as interesting is how the story is being covered. It is being reported one way, here in New Mexico, and another in Arizona. Then it is being promoted as an attack by an illegal by the anti-immigration haters.

The Examiner is the worst.

Examiner

Kimberly Dvorak cites the NCFIRE as a “Source” for her article. This is one of those nasty little anti-immigration groups in NORTH CAROLINA. I gather Ms. Dvorak is not familiar with the geography of the United States. North Carolina is a few miles from New Mexico. The Pink Flamingo ought to know. I lived in South Carolina most of my life.

“…Reacting to the murder, Los Cruces, New Mexico resident, Tammy Hopkins said the government continues to tell the American public, “We have no problem. I give one of them one night alone on my property, and they would damn sure change their minds!”

As word spread yesterday about Link’s murder, groups from around the country shared their thoughts about the senseless crime and porous borders.

“NCFIRE extends our condolences to you and your family. All of our states are saturated with illegal alien crime – murders. So many U.S. families are suffering unnecessarily. In order to not allow these loved ones to die in vain, it is imperative that we take action to change legislation and participate in protecting the border… This must end and only we can force this to happen.”

Steins is at least 60 miles from the border. That is NOT right on the border with Mexico.

Google Maps

Why lie about the location of the little ghost town? It is right on the interstate.

Google Maps

Why say it is on the border when it is not?

The Las Cruces Sun quotes a Hidalgo official. The quote has been picked up and used. What is not mentioned is that Ed Kerr is an anti-immigration activist.

“…Hidalgo County Commissioner Ed Kerr said there is undocumented immigrant and drug activity in the area where Link was killed.

“Last summer in August, I found five bundles of marijuana on my ranch land about 50 feet from the freeway. That can’t be more than eight or 10 miles from Larry’s,” he said. “They were scattered about. One was under the billboard, one was beside the fence. Illegals with empty backpacks had dropped their load. I-10 is, obviously, a connecting point. We’re getting a lot of traffic, more than what we’ve seen in the past couple of years. They have ultra-light planes flying out of Mexico and dropping off bundles and then illegals walking and picking them up.”

Three years ago, Kerr said, he found seven undocumented immigrants hiding in a culvert on his land off of Highway 338.

State Police aren’t releasing many details about Link’s murder, other than to say the shooting had to have occurred prior to 6:15 a.m. Tuesday and Link was found at No. 6 Summit Road, likely by a family member. Hidalgo…”

Summit Road is NOT on the border.

Google Maps

It is a bit ironic that this is being listed as a border crossing. I’ve been through the area often, usually at least three times a year for the past decade. This area as a crossing for illegals is a crock. It is not possible, unless they are being driven down the interstate.

This is a very busy interstate highway.

The Pink Flamingo never met Larry Link. I have friends who know him, and who have worked with him while doing research in his ghost town. It is not a “little” attraction as the usual blond FOX bimbo portrayed it, but a very real, quite historic ghost town. My friend, Jen says that he was a nice guy. She has been on his site several times doing research.

I stopped by there last October, but it was closed. I found the location very strange and a little spooky. It is right on the interstate. Anyone could have committed the crime. To blame an illegal is just plain wrong. I found the site so spooky I did not even get out of the car to take pictures.

The truth of the matter is that I’m not shocked about this crime. It was one of those locations where anyone who a lick of sense just knew it was a matter of time before something really bad happened.

I do hope the town continues to be preserved. It is an important part of our history of the Wild West and the mining industry.

7 thoughts on “UPDATED: More FOX Illegal Immigration Lies”

We happened to catch this segment on Fox today and were outraged! It was the first time in weeks we turned Fox on, for five minutes, and now it’s off again for good. What a terrible joke of a “news” corp. it has become.

To say an illegal killed him when there is no suspect is not only wrong but creates a dangerous situation. Fox News is getting worse about giving the facts as it continues to go for hysteria like tabloid journalism.

When I first heard the name of the town I thought that is on I-10 and that part of I-10 is NOT on the border. Glad you cleared that up. If this had happened SE of El Paso then you travel along the border for I-10. In fact in El Paso you are on the border but as you leave on I-10 going west, you soon leave the border area and are traveling across the Countryside. We came back that way from the Fiesta Bowl because of snow in some of the northern areas and saw the name of the town. Ghost towns give me the creeps on a good day.

My opinion of writers is when they miss the fact that it is not on the border, why should I pay attention to anything else they have to say.

Live in OK and we are definitely not on the border but yesterday they raided a lot of places here and in KS due to drug trafficing out Mexico that comes up I-35. A lot of people were US citizens who were arrested for selling drugs out of their places of business.

OK, you all need to know a few facts about New Mexico and why you can’t compare it to Oklahoma or any other state.

The entire population of NM is around 2,000,000 people. That is less than one of your major cities. Around 96% of NM is owned by Bureau of Land Management. Most of the state is wilderness. If you look at the map where I 10 crosses there are 3 towns, Las Cruces, Deming and Lordsburg. The rest are very, very small villages and few of them.

Steins is considered a border town because this is a state where you have to drive a minimum of 20 miles and more often 45-60 miles to get to habitation. Steins is 45 miles from Mexico and very accesible to illegals, I-10 or not.

Also back in the Clinton administration 100 Kilometers/65 miles on both sides of the border was ceded to the United Nations suposedly so there wouldn’t be a bunch of international red tape involved in polution control and other isues. That makes Steins, Lordsburg, Las Cruces and Deming border towns.

I live 15 miles from Mexico. We see illegals carrying backpacks of drugs into the country on a daily basis. You can tell because people coming in for a better life bring a change of underwear and a jug of water. Drug runners bring in big honking backpacks of drugs that you can see at a very large distance. We report all drug runners we can but the border patrol has about 200-300 x 100 miles of border wilderness to patrol. There just isn’t enough men to do the job.

Bringing in illegal aliens is BIG business down here. Illegals are brought in by cars all the time. Coyotes charge between $1500.00 and $3000.00 per head and pack people into vehicles so tightly they can’t move. They can’t sit down and there are no windows in the back of ryder trucks. They very often are over come by heat prostration and die. Border Patrol who do find them have a very bad time trying to get the doors open. That’s how tightly pack in they are. The people running illegals in Mexico get 15 year old kids to drive them in because they know kids won’t get prosecuted. They just get shipped home and next week they’re back making deliveries. I’ve seen it happen. Those who walk into the country usually have phone numbers to call when they get to habitation. Someone comes and picks them up. Many times they are over come by the heat before they make it too. It’s not unusual to find dead bodies in the desert.

I live on a road where drug deliveries get made at least once a month or more. A small plane flies in low and drop the stuff. The next day a truck comes in and picks it up. We report it all we can but the Border Patrol never gets there in time. People carying in drugs will kill to keep from getting caught.

Right across the border is a little village called Palomas. 15 miles from my house as the crow flies. It’s struggling hard to survive. The drug cartels have shot the place up. The dentists and doctors and their families have been kidnapped and held for ranson. Some of them have been killed. The mayor of the town was murdered. The policia came across the border asking for refuge. Cars with burned decapitated bodies were found in the town square. People from here have gone to visit relatives there and were murdered. A mass grave was found. The people have lost their income because people are afraid to go there from here. This is a tiny tiny village with a huge problem. People this is a BIG problem that no one wants to admit is there , here and in Mexico.
Saying that this problem is all a hateful lie is wrong. You don’t live here and you don’t know what it is like. Visiting three times a year is not like living here. I love my home and will not leave it but I see what goes on here and you don’t. That doesn’t make me a bigot just telling the truth.

I live in Ruidoso, sorry, but the last time I looked, that was in New Mexico. I’ve lived here for 13 years, and know a heck of a lot about it. I know enough to realize that the average person in New Mexico is not an anti-immigration, anti-Hispanic bigot. I also know that Steins is NOT on the border. It is NOT a town. It is an EXIT on 1-10. To state it as anything different is intellectually dishonest. I don’t need a lecture about the state from a hard-line anti-immigration person.

The drug trade is one thing, and human smuggling is another. It needs to be separated. I could tell you a heck of a lot about the drugs in South Carolina in the early 1970s but you would say it did not apply to your nifty little supply of FAIR provided facts and figures. Once up on a time, before the cartels were pushing drugs up through Mexico they came in from Miami. Know anything about Miami? it is a city in Florida (I was born in Florida). Up until they fought what was basically a war to defeat the SAME cartels that are now pushing their drugs through Mexico, they were coming in to FL and sent up I-95 and I-85. For nearly 35 years of my life I lived 6 miles from the first exit from Georgia into SC. It was, at that time, the main pipeline of drugs flowing up into the US from Florida. I know all about people being murdered, their throats slit, and thrown into my mother’s front yard. That was SOUTH CAROLINA. The people involved were UNITED STATES CITIZENS.

It was a horrible time. I know people who were murdered. At one time several of our cops were in league with the big drug suppliers. Kids I went to school with were murdered. I know people who had lives ruined. THEY WERE ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS.

I am so sick and tired of hearing a multi-billion dollar war on drugs equated with trafficking of men and women, most of them only wanting a better way of life, that you pushed all the wrong buttons.

Quit crying about the drug war in Mexico. It is going on there because we won the drug wars in Columbia and Peru. It is their last gasp. The traffickers have been pushed out of Florida, now they are using the Mexican border.

You might also want to mention that, unless you are wealthy or a criminal if you live in Mexico, you CANNOT own a gun. If people in Mexico were allowed to own guns the way we do here, I do not think you would be crying about the drug war, just complaining about the vile Mexican illegal immigrants who are trying to get out of the country. If I lived there and had a family, I would be doing the very same thing.

Mexico is corrupt. it has become a narco-country.

You might also want to mention that 90% of those who have been killed in the drug wars in Mexico are involved in the drug trade.

Just about everything you are saying about the drug problems in Mexico, we were saying about the drug problems in rural South Carolina and North Georgia where the drugs were being distributed at that time. We lived in fear. And yes, they would fly over with small planes, drop their loads of drugs out, sometimes in decent people’s pastures. Gang members would come by and pick the stuff up. WE COULD NOT REPORT this because we never knew which cops were on the take. People ended up dead for reporting it.

Ever heard of the Jamaican drug gangs in Miami? A little television series was based on the drug wars there – Miami Vice. The things they were doing in South Florida were as vicious as what is going on now in Mexico. But – you never heard much about it unless it made the movies.

FYI – I had a cousin murdered because he was an undercover cop in South Florida at the time. He had the goods on another cop. The cop murdered him. My cousin’s best friend was babysitting for his daughter, after my cousin’s death. The drug dealing cop came in, slit the guy’s throat, put his heart in the mail box, and put his head somewhere else. They left a 14 month old baby sitting in her crib – for 4 days before the body was discovered.

FYI – THEY WERE ALL LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS – AMERICAN BORN. So don’t give me this bull about what is going on along the Mexican border being anything new. Get your head out of the sand and read a little recent history of the drug wars.

I am fully aware of what is going on in Mexico. I have very good friends from the area who live hear now – HERE IN NEW MEXICO – WHERE I LIVE. I hear the stories. I am also well aware it is 90% drug on drug violence. They are killing one another. Anyone who knows anything around here knows the Mexican government is encouraging the murders as a way of getting rid of the problem. Let them kill one another.

That’s why people want to live in Mexico. I would. Have you ever driven along I-10 in El Paso? Anyone who does not have compassion for those people living along the border lacks a soul. I feel sorry for these people who cannot fight back against the cartels.

You might also want to take note of the fact that one of the reason the crime and movement of illegals is now along a certain part of the NM-AZ border is they are being squeezed that way by the abject closure of the border along CA and the rest of AZ.

While we’re at it, what about all those women who have been murdered in Juarez? No one even bothers with that.

Don’t assume, because I don’t look at the border through a Minuteman’s paranoid eyes, that I don’t know what is going on. I like accuracy in journalism and detest the hyperactive anti-immigration bigotry promoted by the John Tanton minions and FOX. When we go down to LC for an overnight for medical reasons, I now no longer allow my parents to have first floor rooms along 70. It is not safe. (I am not even going to say what I saw there one night).

You might also want to mention that El Paso is considered one of the safest big cities in the country. Please, explain that….

Not all Mexican are evil, nor are all of them drug runners. Some are just normal people who know how to live a normal life in Mexico, dealing with weird circumstances. I can’t wait for this sort of stuff to start happening along the Canadian border. I doubt if we will even hear about it.

You see, it’s the anti-immigration bigotry, blaming every crime within 200 miles of the border on illegals. Sorry, but I LIVE HERE. I”m not buying the hate.

Number one. I live half way between Deming and Columbus so a know all about Las Cruces, El Paso and the rest.

Number two I am not a minuteman, I don’t even own a gun.

Three I never said that I am against the illegals who are coming into the country looking for work. I said you can tell which ones are carrying drugs by the size of their loads. If anyone stops at my house I generally give them food and water. I don’t want to see anyone die of exposure. I don’t report them.

I also said that the people smugglers are a danger to those same people you are defending. They do not care if those people arrive in this country alive or dead. Smugglers only care that they paid their hard earned cash to get here. Many of these people die trying to get here. That is why they were talking about putting in some sort of alarm system for people out in the desert to call for help. Don’t know if it ever happened though. I just heard about it on the radio.

The women killed in Jaurez is a horrible thing. But it happened in Mexico and the US has very little they can do directly because Mexico has it’s own way of dealing with things. We can offer money or help but Mexico makes their own decisions about accepting them. The whole 100 KM area treaty ceded to the UN was supposed to cut the red tape in issues like this one but it doesn’t appear to do so.

Drugs have been an issue all over this country for ever and it is getting worse. Crooked law enforcement is the greatest hinderance to solving this issue. As long as there is money to be made and desperate people to be exploited this issue will never be solved. I think drugs should be legal like alchol is. Then it won’t be so profitable.

I never meant this to be any sort of statment about immigration just a look at life down here in the boot heel for those who have never been here or at most just visited here. I was basically telling the person from Oklahoma that there isn’t here. While some things are similar others are greatly different. Sorry I pushed your buttons unintentionally.

So rather than scream at me about being a bigot, what is your solution to these issues? What is a sensible solution? I see a lot of issues but no solutions being offered up. How do we make this a perfect world in spite of our fearless leaders?

We may now agree on something. As long as politicians get big time donations from big time drug dealers pretending to be legit, nothing is going to be done.

There is a solution to the immigration problem. Let the people who are here have a pathway to citizenship. We need reasonable work visas out of Mexico. So few are issued there – they all go to countries where the people hate us.

Mexico is a mess. It is also a major economy, and getting bigger every day. The drug cartels are making so darn much money they are well on their way to owning the world. Someone was telling me you can’t just legalize drugs, you must legalize the process and then slap good old American rules and regulations on it – which will eventually kill the entire industry.

The war is spilling over the border, and we are allowing it. Look at the number of BP officers who are on the take. I can only imagine how frightening it must be. Where we lived in SC, it was like the drug distribution point of the nation at that time. They were crazy. There was a drug dealing motorcycle gang that terrorized my best friend. They would drive in and out of her yard at night. She had two small children at the time. She put landscaping timbers in her drive. We all figured she was a dead person. The next day she was driving down on of the back roads. They surrounded her car. She put down her window and told them her girls were little and she was afraid for them. The never bothered her again – they had this truce with her.

Last year they returned. They all piled in her drive, knocked on her front door. They had become Bikers for Christ! So there is hope. (We’re talking shootings, drug dealers, bodies down wells, etc).

When people have no regard for human life, they just don’t care. A friend from Mexico City was telling me that a survey was done in Mexican schools. The majority of kids want to work for the cartels when they are out of school. That is not a good sign.

I don’t think there is a solution.

Thank you for replying. Until the lawlessness is squeezed from your area, it’s not going to be pretty.

You’ve got that one right. It is scary. It is frustrating because I feel so helpless. I don’t have a lot of faith in the voting process and even less in politicians and law enforcement. I put in my vote and then hope it is an improvement. A lot of good people are suffering and all anyone cares about is making their money. As for newspapers, radio and TV, you know as well as I that they’re in it to make money. A story about a killing is just that but throw in a few other half truths and it becomes big news. I read once where a person called in that they had been attacked by a dog. They were asked what kind of dog and when they said a collie the news was not interested. So they called back and said it was a pit bull and the news was all over it. Money pure and simple. Well I hope a lot of good people get together and solve this but given the folks in power (big and little) it seems far off in the future if at all

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SJ Reidhead (aka The Pink Flamingo) is a writer based in New Mexico. The author of two published novels, both westerns: Dust Devil and The Second Mrs. Earp and two published works of non-fictions: TRAVESTY: Frank Waters Earp Agenda Exposed and A Church for Helldorado, Endicott Peabody's 1882 Tombstone Diary. One of the leading authorities on the life of Wyatt Earp and Tombstone during the Earp years, she is currently writing a series of murder mysteries set in modern day Tombstone. The author is also working on a book about fashion in the Wild West. When complete, there will be over 2100 unpublished antique photographs dating from 1855-1910.

The author's work has appeared in Wild West, True West, Blogcritics, and The Tombstone Times. Recently the author has had to deal with a father who succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. This is leading to a book dealing with the frustrations of dealing with the frustrations of the disease, finance, legal, health-care, and things no one bothers telling families about it. She is currently working on a murder mystery series set in modern day Tombstone and Cochise County. Several books of essays on Christian living are currently in edits. A book of essays and revisions of articles about Wyatt Earp has been completed and will include her latest work detailing her theory about the murder of his second wife, Mattie.

SJ Reidhead has been involved in Republican politics since she was 'a little kid'. During the Reagan years she was a lobbyist working with various non-profit organizations who were attempting to salvage NASA and the American space program after the disastrous Carter years. In spite of ups and downs, and numerous disappointments, politically, it is obvious the only political hope for this country is via the Republican Party. Along with politics she is an opera fanatic, has been known to stalk baritones to the point of being a baritone junkie, and loves baseball.

The Pink Flamingo went on line on October 4, 2005.

THE PINK FLAMINGO STORY

It started out as a joke. During the seven years I worked with the girls of my parish, leading a youth group, one of the things that I stressed were manners. Part of having manners, the way I see it, is to know how to set a proper table, host a party, cater it, and clean up afterward. I was fortunate enough to have a group of very talented girls in my youth group. They learned how to plan for, and execute large church functions, very properly. During one such function I noticed there were several incredibly tacky pink flamingos sitting on the table. Knowing the girls were up to something, I said nothing. A few months later they did the same thing at a function I was hosting at my home. I said nothing. They had a birthday party for me. More pink flamingos appeared - and a joke was born.

Thanks to the girls, all of whom are now grown, I have a collection of pink flamingos. It has become an ongoing joke. When I began working on my political blog, I realized the only possibly title was The Pink Flamingo!